How much is that doggie in the window?

£30 apparently.

Ok so it’s was no Portuguese Water Hound like the Mr Obama’s ‘first dog’, it was made of china and it was unlikely to fetch you a stick but you didn’t need to walk it, worry about it killing the neighbour’s cat or impregnating your sister’s daschund.

All we were asking was for some kind soul to give us the one-off donation to give that would give a poor little puppy the place on a mantelpiece it deserved.

Would this be the morning his dream finally came true?

You’ll find out later and no cheating and scrolling to the bottom of the blog to check.

First though I have to publish a short and necessary communication:

Dear talented, hard-working and lovely people working for the Save the Children retail department,

I have a request on behalf of one our volunteers (lets pretend we’re trapped in a game of Happy Families and call him Mr Bookman) who has been responsible for revolutionising the organisation of our book shelves of both the Arnold and Nottingham shops.

Using his keen literary eye he has been able to find several literary works including a collection of poetry worth £30 which is quite accurately described as “being embellished with spirited etchings”. I’ve never seen a spirited etching before but I like what I saw.

Mr Bookman has managed to collect over £300 worth of books which he’d love to be able to sell to raise funds for our projects. He would like to sell them on the ABE books website but wants to know if we have a special Save the Children profile on there yet or if their is another preferred method.

Please advise,

Yours sincerely,

James

To be honest I’m just glad to be alive to write this blog after a Mr Whippy nearly ran me over on the way to the store. To really rub salt into my Cornetto once he’d screeched to a halt he didn’t even offer me a complimentary ‘I just nearly left tyre marks on your face’ flake.

Anyway moving on from near death experience I’m pleased to say the shop was buzzing this Saturday morning.

A student comes in looking for kids books and clothes, I send her off to the Derby (usually a negative euphemism in this neck of the woods) and their magical ‘Toy Attic‘, a lady threw a ten pound note in the air at the checkout – well shopping for social justice can be pretty exciting – and a man far braver than me bought a bright pink jumper for a night out in Nottingham.

It’s also busy on the volunteer front.

P is a regular Saturday morninger and indeed during the week too. He is one of the characters that makes life at Save the Children such a great experience. I wish I only wish had his creative talent for fashion and I am sure it is only a matter of time that Nottingham’s own world famous fashion designer Paul Smith snaps him up as some sort of consultant.

And Where does he get his inspiration?

“The street” apparently.

I don’t know which street but I probably wouldn’t be cool enough to allowed to visit it.

E is another consistent Saturday morninger, she is Nottingham through and through and as nice as a 3-0 home win over Derby County. I discover this morning has now been married now for an incredible 47 years. To put that in perspective 47 years ago my parents were not yet ten, a loaf of bread cost about 5p and Alistair Darling would have struggled convincing his parents he would could spell, quantitative easing, let alone convincing the whole country it was the route out of economic armageddon.

Four and a half decades is a serious sense of commitment and it is that ‘c’ word that seems to unite all the volunteer team. Every week they’re there, doing their bit to Save the Children, as consistent as a reality TV under-dog story.

As much as he hates me to say this is still epitomised by T, who explains to me is going away for a week next month. This may be the longest time he’s been away from the shop since the Battle of the Boyne so he definitely deserves it and for a moment I was worried how the shop would cope without him.

He tells me though that Lynn has it sorted and knowing the two of them and their astronomical organisation skills and dedication I need no assuring.

And what of our shaggy dog story? Well as of 1 o’clock yesterday as the doors shut on the East Midlands premier charity establishment he remains lonely in the window peering out on the sights of Nottingham city (ok it’s a bus stop if you must know), wondering just whom will be the lucky person to give him a loving home.

Anyone interested give us a call on 01159 473906!